Brunswick artist Lynn Koch won't deny it: She's a basket case

Lynn Koch with just a small sampling of the baskets she has made.'SAM' BOYER/SPECIAL TO SUN NEWS

What started as a way for PTO moms to do something interesting has sparked a decades-long love affair for Lynn Koch. A visit to her Brunswick home makes it clear she has a fascination — and talent — for basket weaving.

In 1992, when Lynn became a member of the Towslee PTO, the mothers all wanted to do something together and decided to go to the Brunswick Recreation Center for basket weaving classes. She loved it. Now, 20 years later, she and a fellow PTO mom from that time, Anita Buchanan, continue their hobby.

Over those years, Koch has made hundreds of baskets using dozens of different techniques. After the class at the Recreation Center, someone approached her about a monthly class at Brunswick United Methodist Church, so she took classes there when the teacher would offer a new pattern or method she had never done.

“There are hundreds of them,” she explained, pointing to some of her creations, “There are overlays, diamond stitches, dye and stain methods and so much more. Of course, there are baskets for every holiday and for every use around the house,” she said.

Glance around and you can see her “basket tree” in the dining room, a woven baby crib rocker, a magazine holder, a wastepaper basket, a letter holder. In fact, she and Buchanan were just getting ready to duplicate a letter basket that would be a gift for someone. The baskets come in every size and shape one might imagine.

While she’s been asked to sell her beautiful creations, “I found it’s not my thing. I make them for fun and when people need baskets for a good cause, I offer them.”

For instance, this month she created a basket for the Brunswick Area Historical Society as part of a “Made in Brunswick” basket to be used at the group’s Spirits with the Spirits silent auction on Dec. 20. While she calls it a wastepaper basket, most people would think of it as a beautiful accent piece with a cascade of green and burgundy loops along the outside. It will be filled with donations from other local artists.

The baskets are made from reed that is a light wheat color. Some are left in their natural color, others are stained after they are made. “The stain is just a Minwax type for the colors of wood, and to get other colors, you use Rit Dye and soak the reeds in a tub that you prepare,” she explained. For instance, patriotic baskets include red and blue plus white stars that are glued on. Her favorite color is blue so she uses it in many shades on lots of her baskets.

The Kochs' dining room features a basket tree.'SAM' BOYER/SPECIAL TO SUN NEWS

Koch’s volunteer work doesn’t stop with baskets, however. Among other things, she is a tutor with Project:Learn and works at the Brunswick book store and is completing her term as president of the board. She is a board member with the Brunswick Education Foundation and helps put together those amazing auction baskets that are a big feature of the group’s Spring Fling and Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame at the end of each April. She is a longtime member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and works once a month at the Brunswick Food Pantry with the church members. She is a past member of the church board and a past member of the Homeowner’s Association at Old Mill Village where her family has lived 32 years.

A native of Maryland, she attended Wittenberg University where she met Gunther Koch. When they graduated, she went back to teach in Maryland and he came home to Parma to study dentistry at Case Western Reserve. “We dated long distance until we finally decided that wasn’t working and we were married 33 years ago.”

Gunther was born in Austria and his parents came to Ohio when he was 2 years old. They were friends with Michael Schneider, developer of Old Mill Village, who was about to build an office building and asked Gunther if he could help him determine what a doctor’s office might require.

“He told Mr. Schneider that he would research requirements for a dental office, if he could be the dentist,” and that was how we came here,” Koch said. Dr. Koch is owner of Brunswick Family Dental Practice in the German-American Business Center.

Lynn and Gunther have two sons, Andrew, who is married to Colleen, a high school English teacher. Andrew is finishing his second year of residency at Carilion Medical Center in Roanoke, Va. Son Jeff, who recently graduated from college, is hoping to work one day in the National Parks. Right now he is employed part time in Brunswick and is a volunteer with the National Park system.

In addition to all of this, a couple of years ago, Lynn took up making jelly. “My father in-law had a grape arbor and after my mother in-law passed away, he had no idea what to do with all the grapes. So we make jelly.”

Since then, she’s branched out to other flavors (this was a bad year for grapes) and she also donates jars to good causes.

Her admirers and friends agree: If there were an award for using your talents to help others, Lynn Koch would certainly be a contender.

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